Review: Learning to Fly

Saturday 10 December 2016 No comments
Learning to Fly Learning to Fly by Annie Hughes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve not cried so hard for a character in years. This is a truly breathtaking story of pain, suffering and hope and one that is highly recommended.

Yes, this serial is essentially about a 16/17-year-old and her friends but it’s so much more. It’s a portrayal of a future free of suffering and one in the arms of people of who love unconditionally. This is definitely not an easy story to read. The abuse suffered by Anna is difficult to stomach and despite her now living in the arms of a loving family, Anna’s past rears its ugly head on more than one occasion to keep her from being free of her demons.

SPOILER [After ending book 1 with Anna now in a tentative relationship with her brother’s best friend, Jake, Anna is feeling suffocated by his need to protect her. Jake has seen Anna at her lowest having been present at her trial but little does she know that his support of her will be the end of their relationship, and friendship. Jake loves Anna and Anna thinks that she feels the same but questions her feelings for him when she realises that his overprotectiveness of her causes her to become a silent victim once again. This time she is abused by a love which causes Anna to become lost in her mind once again and it’s not long before her family see Jake’s effect on her. Logan, Anna’s brother, becomes moody around Anna as result. His once best friend now spends every waking moment around Anna and their friendship suffers as a consequence. Anna sees the change in her brother but it takes time for her to realise that his connection to Jake is the cause of his mood swings.] SPOILER END

This really was a beautiful story and one I will always remember fondly. Finding your feet into adulthood is difficult for most people but for Anna, it’s nearly impossible as her pain and suffering continue to form the teenager that she is today. I loved the way Ethan saved her from herself in a way that Jake couldn’t. Logan is the perfect brother to Anna, despite one rather impressive fall from grace, and his character was instantly loveable.

I read this book through the night, sobbing quietly to myself but at the same time turning the pages as quickly as I could to savour every nuance of this story. If you love Jillian Dodd’s Keatyn Chronicles series then you will love the characters in this serial. They play hard, drink hard and love hard, a perfect basis for any YA story.

Annie Hughes may not be a hugely well-known author but she deserves to be, her storytelling is pure bliss!

This ebook was kindly provided by the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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Review: Una Familia Segura

Una Familia Segura Una Familia Segura by Annie Hughes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another wonderful book from this author. Whilst the story is emotive, it is also heartwarming and despite the horrific scenes experienced by Anna, I felt completely absorbed by this book.

Anna Rosa Castillo has been horrifically abused for most of her childhood years but now, 16 years old and having received what is hopefully her final punishment from her stepfather, she faces a future with her father, in America.

Anna knew nothing of her father but when her mother dies, he is contacted as her next of kin having been named on her birth certificate. Life with David and his family is the polar opposite of what she has lived to date; abuse aside. They are a wealthy and loving family and are immediately supportive of Anna. Anna is, as expected, reluctant to trust anyone in her life but David, Mel and Mel's son Logan are just what she needs. From her arrival in America, Anna knows that her future is with this family but she still has one hurdle to overcome and that is her return to the UK to appear in court for her stepfather's trial.

I loved this story of hope but at times I felt that Anna's happiness came a little too easily. She fell in love with her new family almost immediately and even managed to call David and Mel her Papa and mum within a relatively short time. Also, for someone who has been abused so cruelly, she seems surprisingly strong when you would expect her to take years to recover from her abuse. That said, this is still a rewarding story and I can't wait to read on.

Despite this being a story of a 16 year old, and her new friends of the same age, it isn't necessarily a YA read, nor is it a romance story although Anna’s developing relationship with Logan’s friend Jake is a sweet side story. It's more a story of a new family re-building its foundations after finding a sibling that no-one was aware of. Anna's story may be at the crux of this book, but it's also David, Mel and Logan's story and definitely one to be cherished.

This ebook was kindly provided by the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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